Apparatus for filling containers with liquid



Jun 23, 1964 Filed March 7, 1963 R. F. SCHAETZLY 3,138,170

APPARATUS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH LIQUID 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. RAYMOND F. SGHAETZLY m5. QWM

June 23, 1964 R. F. SCHAETZLY 3,138,170

APPARATUS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH LIQUID Filed March '7, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 J RAYMOND F.5CHAETZLY BY June 23, 1964 R. F. SCHAETZLY 3,138,170

APPARATUS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH LIQUID Filed March 7, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. RAY M O N D F. SCHAETZLY United States Patent 3,138,170 APPARATUS FOR FILLll lG CONTAHQERS WITH LIQUm Raymond F. Schaetzly, Louisville, Kym, assignor to Oil Equipment Manufacturing Company, inc, Louisville,

Ky, a corporation of Kentucky Filed Mar. '7, 1963, Ser. No. 263,555 9 Claims. (Cl. 137-386) This invention relates to an improved apparatus for filling a container with liquid at relatively high rates of filling commensurate with observance of safety conditions. More particularly, the invention relates to heavy duty apparatus of this type in which the initiation of the liquid flow involves a relatively low rate of filling until a safety condition is first satisfied, followed promptly by a high rate of flow after that condition is satisfied. By way of illustration and not of limitation, the invention is especially well adapted for use at bulk loading stations for liquid fuels and wherein flow rates in the range of, for example, 100 to 1000 gallons per minute are to be employed. As is known, the filling of empty containers with certain types of fuel, such as certain grades of kerosene for jet engines, may under certain conditions, give rise to explosions when the fuel being pumped into the container enters that container at an excessive flow rate prior to attainment of a sufiicient level of liquid within the container. the container within a short period of time, and it also is desirable to avoid objectionable pressure waves in the liquid supply system resulting from abrupt opening and closing of valves. It is these and other requirements found in the bulk loading of liquid fuels which the present invention is intended to satisfy.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved liquid handling apparatus compelling the operator to fulfill a predetermined safety condition before he can operate the apparatus at its normal rated flow.

Another object is to provide an improved liquid handling apparatus which is readily adjustable for the handling of various liquids requiring difierent initial rates of ilow in order to conform to a characteristic safety condition imposed by the particular liquid or the particular container.

A further object is to provide an improved means for limiting the extent of the initial rotation of a valve actuating shaft until a safety condition is'satisfied.

On the other hand, it is desirable usually to fill Other objects and advantages of the invention will be- I come apparent as the description proceeds and when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which;

FIG. 1 is an elevation view partly-broken away and indicating the relation ot'the filling apparatus with the container to be filled.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the valve housing and interior parts taken normally to the shaft axis and to a larger scale, with certainjelements shown in elevation for clarity.

FIG. 3 is a view partly in section and taken at a right angle to FIG. 2 and showing external parts attached to the valve housing, certain elements being shown in dotted form and in elevational forms for clarity.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional viewof the oscillatable shaft withthe attachments removed therefrom and with the cooperating diaphragm-actuated plunger shown removed from the shaft.

views respectively of the pilot valve stem engaging member;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are end elevation and side elevation views respectively of the member for limiting the extent of shaft rotation at the opening of the main valve; and

PEG. 10 is a side elevation view of a portion of the valve housing adjacent the diaphragm chamber and indicating diagrammatically the'passages leading to that chamber.

Referring first to FIGS. 2 and 3, a valve housing generally indicated at 10 comprises an upper housing portion 11 having a lateral connection 12 for engagement with the liquid supply conduit. The same housing has a lower portion 13 serving as the outlet,'and a narrow interior cross brace 1 having'an aperture therein forming a guide surface 15, extends across this lowerportion. Above the cross brace a circular valve seat 16 is provided for the main valve. At the upper end of the housing a cover 17 is provided and is bolted to the housing with a seal 1% therebetween. Along one side the upper housing portion has a thickened wall through which extends a bleed passage 19 communicating with a complementary bleed passage 20 in the cover member. In passage 20 a suitable valve seat 21 is formed and with which an externally adjustable bleed valve 22 cooperates.

Concentrically formed with respect to the main valve seat 16 is a cylindrical inner wall 23 extending upwardly into contact with seal 18. Rigidly mounted in contact with and sealed there against is a cylindrical sleeve 24, preferably formed of brass, and having a lower end which extends to a position adjacent the inlet end of bleed passage 19E. Formed interiorly of this sleeve is a plurality of bypass passages 25, the upper ends of which communicate with the space 26 within the housing cover and the lower ends of which terminate at a short, but predetermined, distance above the lower end of the sleeve. This predetermined distance represents the cushioned distance through which the main valve moves during. its final closing stage, and as will later be described.

Reciprocally mounted within the stationary sleeve 24 and suitably sealed with respect thereto, is a hollow cylindrical main valve 30, the interior of which is in free communication with the space 26 in the cover. At its other end the main valve is provided with a head portion 31 having a centrally located aperture 32 therethrough and which is surrounded by a. circular boss 33 on the inner surface of that head portion. On the outer surface of the head portion a suitable seat is arranged for a disc-like sealing gasket 34 which is interposed between the valve head portion 31 and the plate section 35 of main valve stem 36.

' Valve stem 36 is hollow and extends at its lower end into the lower portion of the valve housing, being guided by the surface 1.5 in the crossbrace; Fastened to the valve stem 36 as by a retainer 37, is a hollow spreader having a generally conical wall 3% testing in inverted posi:

tion against the lower surface of plate section 35 and as- FIG. 5 is a sectionalview taken online 5. 5 of FIG.

3 to a large scale. and showing the bushing and'sha-ft in their engaged relationship, but with the diaphragm plunger omitted.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are end elevation and side elevation sembled into position after that plate section is first secured to the valve headportion as by means of screws 39. This .spreader serves as a venturi-cone device, as later will become apparent, and the lower endof its conical wall cooperates with avacuum breaker arm 40 as will be seen in FIG. 3. The spreader includes a transverse web section 41 havingjap'ertures 42 therein and ref ceiving liquid which has passed through the aperture 32 in the main valve head and thence through passages. 4 in the plate section of the main valve stem. The housing cover 17 includes an inwardly directed post 45 around which a compression spring 46 is'mounted and which bears'upon a pilot valvedi, normally urging that valve into closed position upon its'seat 4% at the. V peripheryot aperture 32 in the main valve. Engaging with the pilot valve is an elongated pilot valve stem 50 which reciprocates within the hollow main valve stem 36 and has at its lower end a member 51, such as a collar or the like, adapted to engage with and lift that main valve stem and the attached main valve when the valve actuating means now to be described, causes the pilot valve to become unseated.

Considering now FIG. 1, it will be understood that the valve housing and parts thus far described are intended to cooperate with an elongated filling tube 54 the lower end of which includes a conventional deflector 55 which at the initiation of a filling operation is brought into contact with the inner bottom of the container indicated diagrammatically at 56. This filling tube has in its wall a conventional sensing port 57 located at the proper height corresponding to a safe level of liquid in the container and connected with an upwardly extending sensing tube 58 the upper end of which, as seen in FIG. 3, communicates with passage 59 in the lower portion of the valve housing.

Before considering, however, the intended operation of the sensing apparatus, the valve actuating means which forms an essential portion of the present invention and which differs in material respects from the valve actuating means disclosed in Schaetzly US. Patent 2,881,809, may be noted. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 9, there is provided an elongated shaft 60 having at its proximal end a non-circular portion 61 for attachment thereto of an actuating handle such as seen at 62 in FIG. 3. At its other end, the shaft is formed with an inwardly extending axial bore 63 for receiving with a sliding fit the cylindrical body portion 64 of a plunger attached to diaphragm 65. This plunger has a forwardly extending guide pin 66 which joins that body portion along a conical cam surface portion 67 and the axial bore 63 of the shaft is formed with a small diameter extension bore 68 to receive the guide pin with a close fit, this smaller bore joining the large bore along a conical surface similar to that found on the plunger. The Wall of the shaft bore is provided with three equally spaced holes lying in the same transverse plane and adapted to retain therein corresponding latching balls 70, 71 and 72, as shown in FIG. 5. Rigidly attached to the shaft intermediate its ends is a non-circular key member 73 engageable in a correspondingly shaped aperture in the pilot-valve-stem-engaging member now to be described. This key member, moreover, has a fiat side surface adapted to limit movement of the shaft to the left by abutting against the end of a bushing 74 positioned in the hollow boss 75 extending inwardly from the side of the lower housing portion 13 as indicated in FIG. 3.

The pilot-valve-stem-engaging member shown in FIG. 6 comprises a main body portion 76 having the non-circular aperture 77 extending therethrough between the parallel fiat sides 78 and '79 thereof. Projecting from this body portion is a pair of spaced legs 30 and 81 upon which a roller 83 is journalled for rotation about axle 82. Also projecting from the opposite side of the body portion 76 is a massive shoulder 84 having an abutment-engaging face 85 which, when the main valve reaches its fully opened position, engages against abutment 86, formed on the interior of the lower portion of the valve housing as seen in FIG. 2.

Further referring to FIG. 4, at the distal end of shaft 60 a larger diameter oscillatable bushing 90 surrounds the shaft with a close fit and is provided with a non-circular key section 91 on its outer surface for engagement within the corresponding aperture 92 in the shaft-rotation-limiting member 93, best seen in FIGS. 8 and 9. This bushing is housed within the hollow boss 94 projecting inwardly from the side of the lower valve housing and which boss is axially aligned with boss 75 and is of a larger diameter permitting assembly of the shaft from the right hand side of the structure as seen in FIG. 3. An outer O-ring seal 95 is disposed between the bushing and boss 94, and internal O-ring seals 96 and 97 likewise are disposed between the outer surfaces of the shaft 60 and the respective inner surfaces of the stationary boss 94 and the stationary bushing 74. Formed on the inner surface of the oscillatable bushing are three equally spaced concave recesses 98, 99 and 100 (FIG. 5 for receiving latching balls 70, 71 and 72 when that bushing is latched to shaft 60 and for camming these balls into bore 63 of that shaft when the bushing moves with respect to that shaft. The size of the several parts is so chosen that after assembly the balls cannot escape from the radial holes in the shaft, but are free to move radially therein, depending upon the position occupied by the plunger attached to the diaphragm. Thus, when the plunger is in its innermost position corresponding to FIG. 3, the balls are held in engagement with the recesses in the bushing and the bushing and shaft are locked together; when the plunger is in its outermost position the balls are withdrawn from engagement with the recesses in the bushing and the bushing and shaft are unlocked from each other; and when the conical surface of the plunger during its movement contacts the balls they may move radially inwardly or outwardly toward or from locking engagement depending upon the direction of movement of that conical camming surface.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 8 and 9, the shaft-rotationlirniting member 93 when fitted upon the bushing 90 serves to limit the extent of rotation of that bushing in either direction. This member includes parallel fiat sides 101, and 102, from the latter of which a fixed projection 103 extends into the plane of movement of the companion pilot-valve-stem-engaging member and on the lower side of that companion member.

Extending from an upper portion of member 93 is an arm 104 having a face 105 adapted to contact an abutment 106 extending inwardly from the wall of the lower valve housing portion 13. This abutment is adjustable in order to accommodate the handling of differing liquids when using the same apparatus, and may comprise a massive bolt adjustably held in place with a lock nut 107 and with the forward end of the bolt serving as the abutment 106. Extending from a lower portion of member 93 is a second arm 108 having secured thereto a projection 109 of adjustable length and which is adapted to contact an inner surface of the lower portion of the valve housing and to establish for the valve-actuating shaft and bushing an indexed rest position from which the cycle of filling operation may be started.

For cooperation with the thus far described apparatus, the invention includes an improved arrangement for actuating the diaphragm in prompt response to changes in operating conditions and as seen in FIGS. 3 and 10, a diaphragm chamber having a dish-like inner wall 110 with a fastening rim 111 is provided at one side of the valve housing in axial alignment with the oscillatable valve-actuating shaft and bushing. A complementary cover 112 having a dish-like outer wall with a fastening rim 113 is adapted for tight engagement with the rim 111 as by means of screws 114 engaging in threaded holes 115, appropriate holes being provided in the periphery of the flexible diaphragm 65 in order to secure the same between the two rims. When thus assembled, the diaphragm is bounded on one side by a space 116 maintained at atmospheric pressure by an open passage 117 leading thereinto through the casing wall and on the other side by a space 118 in which variable pressure conditions obtain. Within space 118 a compression spring 119 serves to urge the diaphragm normally toward the shaft, the plunger 64, which is connected by a suitable swivel connection 120 to the other face of the diaphragm, meanwhile being guided through a face plate 121 and serving normally to move the latching balls to their locking positions.

The cover plate 112 is provided on its rim 113 with a first recess 122 which communicates through an opening in the diaphragm periphery with passage 59 in the valve housing and further through passage 123 in that plate with space 118. In addition the plate is provided with a second recess 124 which communicates through another opening in the diaphragm periphery with pas sage 125 formed Within the wall of the casing and leading to a recessed cover plate 126, the recess therein serving to establish communication between a hole 127 in the valve housing at the upper terminus of passage 125 and the open end 128 of a passage 129 leading through the casing wall and terminating at a groove 130 extending circumferentially of the main valve seat 16. This passage 129 serves to apply suction to diaphragm space 118 when the main valve is fully open and, as a calibrating means, a small plug, not shown, having an opening of chosen size therethrough may be replaceably mounted in the hole 128 whenever desired. It will be understood that passage 11'7 (indicated in FIG. is located within the side wall of the lower portion 13 of the valve housing by employing a conventional coring means during fabrication of that housing, and will have one end in communication at all times with the atmosphere and the other end in communication at all times with the space 116 within the diaphragm chamber. Likewise, the passage 125 is located within the side wall of the lower portion 13 of the valve housing and has its upper terminus confronting the recessed cover plate 126. The recess within this cover plate serves to communicate the passage 125 with a passage 129 leading to the valve seat 16. As seen in FIG. 10 the cover plate 126 has been removed to show the open end 127 of passage 125 and the open end 128 of the passage 129. Formation of these passages separately is preferable for manufacturing reasons and also makes possible the calibration of the suction effect merely by removing the recessed cover plate and inserting a calibrating plug in the passage 129. Also mounted in the wall of the valve casing is a conventional vacuum breaker having a body portion 131 withinwhich is mounted the usual valve, which valve is biased to closed position by a spring and having attached thereto an. arm 40 (FIG. 3) projecting into the path of the main valve and causing the vacuum breaker to open when that valve approaches its seat during closing movement.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3 it will be appreciated that the spring 46 is constantly acting to attempt to move the pilot valve to closed position and that the roller 89 must overcome this spring pressure in order to keep the main valve open. In accordance with the invention, the handle 62, therefore, will move to closing position as soon as the operator releases his grip on the same. To relieve the operator from constantly holding the handle, however, a conventional latch 135 pivotally mounted upon a projection 136 from the valve housing and having a slot into which a pin 137 on the handle may engage with a latching movement after the main valve is fully opened, may be provided. In this instance, the operator after observing the approach of the completion of the filling operation, and while the main valve is still fully open, will unlatch the handle and permit it to turn in a closing'direction. At this time the shaft 60 also turns in its closing or second direction and the following movements of the several parts of the apparatus will take place. Because the main valve is now fully-open and suction is being developed by flow of liquid across valve seat 16, the diaphragm is being held in space 118 against the action of its resetting spring 119 and thus the bushing 90 is presently unlocked from the shaft 60.

As the shaft otlturns' in the closing direction, the roller 89 of the valve-stem-engagihg means new begins to move downwardly and the member 51 of the pilot valve 72 and locking the bushing 90 to'the shaft. As this bushing and shaft are locked, the shaft-rotation-limiting member 93 which is keyed to bushing 90 will then become indeXed with respect to the companion pilot-valve-stemengaging member 7 6 which is keyed to the shaft since the pin 1113 of the former member will at this time be in contact with the underside of the latter as indicated in FIG. 2.. As indicated in the above mentioned Schaetzly patent which discloses a similar cutting off of liquid flow in steps, this first stage of closing is relatively rapid and quickly reduces the volume of liquid passing into the container. However, as soon as main valve 30 moves to a point where communication through by-pass passages 25 is interrupted by the uncovering of the lower ends of those passages, its subsequent stage of closingwill require the supply of the necessary liquid to the interior f of the main valve through bleed passage 19. As this final volume of liquid bleeds into the main valve 30 the valve gradually settles upon seat 16, thus avoiding any pressure waves in the piping system.

Continued downward movement of the main valve with a diminishing of the flow of fluid will take place until 7 the main valve seats, at which time the pilot valve still is open and a suflicient amount of fluid continues'to flow therethrough to avoid a pressure wave in the system due to the closing of that main valve} Thereafter, the continuedretraction of roller 89 away from the pilot valve stem allows that pilotvalve to close and stops the flow of the liquid which had accumulated within the hollow main valve through the bleed passage 19; The handle 62 by thistime has been moved to its farthermost rest position and the shaft likewise has been moved to its fartherest position in its second direction, these elements now. being indexed at those positions by contact of the projection 109 of the shaft-rotation-limiting member 93 against the stationary wall of the valve housing. Additional structurallelements, forming no part of the present invention, may be employed with respect to the shaft-actuating handle 62 such as the use of a fusible linkage 138 for safety purposes, or the use of an automatic shaft operator, not

, shown, in lieu of the manual operation as herein described.

In beginning operation of the present apparatus and following'the positioning of the filling tube 54 in tank 56 (FIG. 1) the handle 62 will be moved gradually to the opening position thus rotating shaft 60 in its first direction. As roller 89 contacts the pilot valve stem, liquid which had accumulated above the. main valve begins to flow into the container at a small but safe rate stem also moves downwardly permitting the main valve of flow; This predetermined initial safe rate of flow may comprise the amount which can pass the pilot valve plus an amount corresponding to a slight opening of the main valve. In any event, the lifting of the main valve at this time and the'raising ofv the venturi-cone 38 out of contact with the vacuum breaker arm 40 will not actuate the diaphragm which still is open to atmosphere in the container through the sensing tube 58. The diaphragm thus keeps the shaft 69 and bushing 90 locked together. Since these elements are locked to each other, the face 1515 of the shaft-rotation-limiting means 93 is brought' into contact with'the abutment 106 and further rotation of shaft 60 is prevented. Accordingly, the rate of initital filling of the container is limited until the following action 7 V 9 occurs.

As soon as the sensing port 57 is coveredby liquid within the container the diaphragmispace 118' subject within the container the diaphragm space 118 then becomes subject to the vacuum being produced around the valveseat 16' by the flow ofliquid vthereacross and the diaphagm pulls plunger64 to theright against it the actionof spring 119; This movement unlocks the bushing 90 from the shaft 60 and although'the' face of the means 93 still. remains in contact 'withthe abutment 1%, the shaft may now rotate farther. in its second 1 or opening direction as the handle is so moved by the operator. This continued movement of the shaft enables the roller 89 to lift the valve stems to their uppermost positions at which time the face 85 of the member 84 comes into contact with the abutment 86 of the valve housing. Since by this time the necessity for reduced flow into the container is past, the liquid is now flowing at the full rated capacity of the apparatus and due to the gradual opening of the pilot and then of the main valve, no damaging pressure wave in the system was encountered.

Accordingly, as a result of the improved construction of the apparatus the several objectives of the invention are secured thus permitting a limited flow until the safety condition is met, then an immediate shift to full flow without waste of time, and then a controlled shutting otf of fiow without surge in the supply line. Moreover, due to the several features of adjustment the rate of initial flow may be easily varied depending upon the nature of the fluid being handled and the nature of the container to be filled.

Having thus described a preferred form of apparatus and a cycle of operation of the same, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. It is intended, therefore, that the invention is to be considered as limited only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for filling containers with liquid comprising, a valve housing including an inner cylindrical Wall and a removable cover therefor, said housing having an inlet connected to an upper portion thereof beneath said cover and an outlet connected to a lower portion thereof, a main valve seat between said housing portions and spaced from the lower edge of said inner wall; a hollow, cylindrical, reciprocable main valve disposed in said upper housing portion and having an upper peripheral edge sealingly engaging said inner Wall, said main valve having a head adapted for seating upon said main valve seat and carrying a valve stem extending into the lower portion of said housing, an aperture in said main valve head having an edge forming a seat for a pilot valve and communicating said inlet with said outlet when the pilot valve is unseated, a passage from said inlet extending as a by-pass around said inner wall and adapted to supply liquid constantly from said inlet into the interior of said main valve, a pilot valve for draining liquid through said main valve, the rate of flow of liquid past the opened pilot valve being substantially less than the rate of flow past the opened main valve, said pilot valve having a valve stem including a member for engaging and lifting said main valve stem in order to raise said main valve from its seat, means biasing said pilot valve toward seating position upon its valve seat, valve actuating means comprising an elongated shaft mounted in said lower housing portion and oscillatable about its longitudinal axis, means rigidly attached to said shaft for engaging said pilot valve stem upon shaft rotation in a first direction and for disengaging the same upon rotation in a second direction, means detachably connected to said shaft for limiting the extent of initial shaft rotation in said first direction thereby to limit the opening of said main valve while being lifted by engagement of its stem with said pilot valve stem member, means responsive to the depth of liquid in a container being filled for disconnecting said shaft-rotation-limiting means from said shaft and for per mitting additional shaft rotation in said first direction in order to raise said main valve to fully opened position by the lifting of said main valve stem in engagement with said pilot valve stem member and to increase the rate of flow through said main valve, a handle attached to said shaft for selectively rotating said shaft in said first and second directions, and means for limiting the extent of rotation of said shaft in said second direction.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said shaftrotation-limiting means is adjustable thereby to vary the extent of said initial shaft rotation.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for limiting the extent of rotation in said second direction is adjustable thereby to vary the position of rest of said shaft prior to a filling operation.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said shaftrotation-limiting means is engageable with said pilotvalve-stem-engaging means during rotation of the latter in said second direction of shaft rotation thereby to move the former to an indexed starting position when said shaft reaches the limit of its rotation in said second direction.

5. In an apparatus for filling containers with liquid, the combination comprising a container to be filled, a valve housing containing a main valve having a stem projecting therefrom and a valve seat across which liquid flows when said valve is open, a liquid inlet into said housing above said valve seat and a liquid outlet from said housing below said valve seat, a filling tube extending from said housing to adjacent the bottom of a container, a sensing port in said tube, an oscillatable shaft mounted in said housing and movable in a first, valve-opening direction and a second, valve-closing direction, an oscillatable bushing surrounding said shaft adjacent one end of said shaft, a diaphragm chamber mounted upon said housing in axial alignment with said shaft and bushing, a diaphragm mounted in said chamber and movable toward and away from said shaft and housing, said diaphragm carrying a plunger for detachably locking said bushing to said shaft when said diaphragm is nearest the end of said shaft and for unlocking said bushing from said shaft when said diaphragm is farthest from the end of said shaft, a first conduit connected to said sensing port and in communication with one face of said diaphragm, a second conduit connected to said valve seat and in communication with said one face of said diaphragm, a conduit connected to ambient air and in communication with the other face of said diaphragm, spring means normally urging said diaphragm and plunger into locking position with respect to said shaft and said bushing, a handle for selectively rotating said shaft in said first and second directions, means rigidly attached to said shaft for engaging said valve stem and lifting said valve to opened position upon shaft rotation in said first direction and for disengaging the same upon rotation in said second direction, and means attached to said bushing and engageable with an interior abutment within said valve housing for limiting the extent of initial shaft rotation in said first direcion to a preselected amount when said bushing and shaft are locked together by said plunger, whereby said shaft-rotation-limiting means remains effective to prevent full opening of said valve by said valve-stem lifting means until said sensing port is covered by liquid and the vacuum established by liquid flow over said valve seat becomes sufiicient to shift said diaphragm against said spring means and to withdraw said plunger from its locking position and to free said shaft from said bushing for further lifting of said valve stem.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein said shaftrotation-limiting means includes a body portion having an aperture therethrough for reception of said bushing therein, and an arm projecting radially of said body portion and adapted for abutment against a stationary part of said valve housing when said bushing is rotated to the preselected amount of initial shaft rotation in said first direction.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein said shaftrotation-limiting means includes a body portion having an aperture therethrough for reception of said bushing therein, a first arm projecting radially of said body portion and adapted for abutment against a first stationary part of said valve housing when said bushing is rotated to the preselected amount of initial shaft rotation in said first direction, and a second arm projecting radially of said body portion and carrying a projection adapted for 10 mounting a roller positioned for lifting of said valve stem, and a second arm projecting radially of said body portion and adapted for abutment against a stationary part of said valve housing when said shaft reaches the limit of its ro 5 tation in said first direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Schaetzly Apr. 14, 1959 Hornback Sept. 20, 1960 

1. APPARATUS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH LIQUID COMPRISING, A VALVE HOUSING INCLUDING AN INNER CYLINDRICAL WALL AND A REMOVABLE COVER THEREFOR, SAID HOUSING HAVING AN INLET CONNECTED TO AN UPPER PORTION THEREOF BENEATH SAID COVER AND AN OUTLET CONNECTED TO A LOWER PORTION THEREOF, A MAIN VALVE SEAT BETWEEN SAID HOUSING PORTIONS AND SPACED FROM THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID INNER WALL; A HOLLOW, CYLINDRICAL, RECIPROCABLE MAIN VALVE DISPOSED IN SAID UPPER HOUSING PORTION AND HAVING AN UPPER PERIPHERAL EDGE SEALINGLY ENGAGING SAID INNER WALL, SAID MAIN VALVE HAVING A HEAD ADAPTED FOR SEATING UPON SAID MAIN VALVE SEAT AND CARRYING A VALVE STEM EXTENDING INTO THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID HOUSING, AN APERTURE IN SAID MAIN VALVE HEAD HAVING AN EDGE FORMING A SEAT FOR A PILOT VALVE AND COMMUNICATING SAID INLET WITH SAID OUTLET WHEN THE PILOT VALVE IS UNSEATED, A PASSAGE FROM SAID INLET EXTENDING AS A BY-PASS AROUND SAID INNER WALL AND ADAPTED TO SUPPLY LIQUID CONSTANTLY FROM SAID INLET INTO THE INTERIOR OF SAID MAIN VALVE, A PILOT VALVE FOR DRAINING LIQUID THROUGH SAID MAIN VALVE, THE RATE OF FLOW OF LIQUID PAST THE OPENED PILOT VALVE BEING SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE RATE OF FLOW PAST THE OPENED MAIN VALVE, SAID PILOT VALVE HAVING A VALVE STEM INCLUDING A MEMBER FOR ENGAGING AND LIFTING SAID MAIN VALVE STEM IN ORDER TO RAISE SAID MAIN VALVE FROM ITS SEAT, MEANS BIASING SAID PILOT VALVE TOWARD SEATING POSITION UPON ITS VALVE SEAT, VALVE ACTUATING MEANS COMPRISING AN ELONGATED SHAFT MOUNTED IN SAID LOWER HOUSING PORTION AND OSCILLATABLE ABOUT ITS LONGITUDINAL AXIS, MEANS RIGIDLY ATTACHED TO SAID SHAFT FOR ENGAGING SAID PILOT VALVE STEM UPON SHAFT ROTATION IN A FIRST DIRECTION AND FOR DISENGAGING THE SAME UPON ROTATION IN A SECOND DIRECTION, MEANS DETACHABLY CONNECTED TO SAID SHAFT FOR LIMITING THE EXTENT OF INITIAL SHAFT ROTATION IN SAID FIRST DIRECTION THEREBY TO LIMIT THE OPENING OF SAID MAIN VALVE WHILE BEING LIFTED BY ENGAGEMENT OF ITS STEM WITH SAID PILOT VALVE STEM MEMBER, MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE DEPTH OF LIQUID IN A CONTAINER BEING FILLED FOR DISCONNECTING SAID SHAFT-ROTATION-LIMITING MEANS FROM SAID SHAFT AND FOR PERMITTING ADDITIONAL SHAFT ROTATION IN SAID FIRST DIRECTION IN ORDER TO RAISE SAID MAIN VALVE TO FULLY OPENED POSITION BY THE LIFTING OF SAID MAIN VALVE STEM IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID PILOT VALVE STEM MEMBER AND TO INCREASE THE RATE OF FLOW THROUGH SAID MAIN VALVE, A HANDLE ATTACHED TO SAID SHAFT FOR SELECTIVELY ROTATING SAID SHAFT IN SAID FIRST AND SECOND DIRECTIONS, AND MEANS FOR LIMITING THE EXTENT OF ROTATION OF SAID SHAFT IN SAID SECOND DIRECTION. 